Saint Patrick: Issues of Translation & His Enduring
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SAINT PATRICK: ISSUES OF TRANSLATION & HIS ENDURING PASTORAL MESSAGE A dissertation submitted to the Caspersen School of Graduate Studies Drew University in partial fulfillment of The requirements for the degree, Doctor of Letters Christina Isabella McGrath Drew University Madison, New Jersey May 2021 Copyright © 2021 by Christina Isabella McGrath All Rights Reserved Abstract Saint Patrick: Issues of Translation and His Enduring Pastoral Message Doctor of Letters Dissertation by Christina Isabella McGrath The Caspersen School of Graduate Studies Drew University May 2021 This dissertation attempts to discover the reason(s) for the worldwide interest in Saint Patrick of Ireland by focusing on the numerous translations of his two writings, the Confessio (The Confession of Saint Patrick) and the Epistola (The Letter to the Soldiers of Coroticus). By analyzing seven specific twentieth century translations of the saint’s fifth century writings, the reader will discern subtle differences in each end product, leading to a unique message from Patrick. Working with the assertions that every translation is a political act of some kind and that the translator becomes part of the translation, specific passages from the saint’s writings are examined and discussed through the lens of translation theory along with survey responses from accessible translators. After delving into Patrician scholarship, the historical sources presenting Saint Patrick’s letters have been called into question, due to the personal agendas and biases of his seventh century biographers. Over the past 1500 years, both political and religious factions have usurped him for their own agendas. The end result of this exploration led to the discovery of a man who went to the end of his world to preach the Gospel, to convert the Irish to Christianity, and to share the love of his God with the place and people who once enslaved him. His personal struggles of faith and forgiveness make an intimate impression on the reader that has endured. ❖ Dedication For Papa – on to my plumber’s license! ❖ TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter One – Introduction & Historical Foundations…………...………….....…………1 Chapter Two – Contextual Issues o Issues of Patrick’s Latin…...……………………………......……………………33 o Issues of Medieval Rhetorical Writing……………………….....……………….41 o Issues of Translation……………………………………………..………………45 Chapter Three – Presentation of Modern Translators…………………...........………….53 Chapter Four – Analysis of the Confessio……………………………….………………....….69 Chapter Five – Analysis of the Epistola……………………………………..………....102 Chapter Six – Original Creative Piece, “Patrick’s Sheep”…………………………..…128 Chapter Seven – Conclusions……………………………………………………..……145 Appendix 1 – Confessio, Latin Text………………………………………………...….158 Appendix 2 – Epistola, Latin Text……………………………………………………...169 Appendix 3 – Original E-Mail Correspondences…………………………………….…173 Works Cited………………………………………………………………………….…190 Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………....197 vi Acknowledgements & Gratitude Dr. Sloane Drayson-Knigge – My unofficial advisor and awesome cheerleader. Dr. Jesse Mann – For challenging me through this process to dig deeper and to be firm in my convictions. Dr. Bill Rogers – For spinning a good yarn, showing me that it’s all England’s fault, and for pitching in at the end. Dr. Liana Piehler – For helping me realize my writer’s vision. Mindy Rochman – My writer’s block remover and my MLA guru. Mitch Ravitz – My tech wizard. My AFG Family – Thank you for showing me that I don’t have to be afraid to try and to keep putting one foot in front of the other. My Students – I know how you feel when you work on your research paper for my class. I’ll have a little more sympathy as you go through the process. Grace M. McGrath – For teaching me what it means to be passionate about something. Thomas S. McGrath – Thank you for the gift of the love of learning, it has served me well. I wish you were here to see the final product in person, but I know that you’ve been here through all of the process with me. My loving family – Rich, Heather Lynn, Heather, James, Elizabeth, Barbara, and Tom – love you Maggie, Jesse, Baby, and Milo – my sweet dissertation pups, who kept me company, from research, to writing, to editing. Maureen Roger – For everything said and unsaid. vii Preface The inspiration for this project came from several places throughout my studies at Drew University. My initial interest was in my first class, during the summer of 2012, Isle of the Saints. I had several titles to read, two of which were Philip Freeman’s Saint Patrick of Ireland (2004) and John Skinner’s The Confession of Saint Patrick (1998). I was struck by the beauty of Skinner’s translation, which I read after Freeman. I was also intrigued by the word choices that each translator had made. As a high school teacher of World Literature in which all my students read are translations, I was curious about what impact those choices had on the meaning, both the author’s possible original intent as well as the reader’s interpretation. My second ingredient was in another class, Imaging History in Fall 2013. I took the original research on Patrick and wrote an epic poem about him, using certain phrases from those two translations, to incorporate the saint’s “original” thoughts. I had a vision of a hybrid project, one that would combine research with creative writing. Lastly, in one of the sections of the Confessio (Section [23]), Patrick talks about a vision of letters from the Irish, asking him to come back to them. “I was utterly ‘pierced to my heart’s core,’ so that I could read no more” (Skinner 45). With that phrase, the Baroque sculpture “Ecstasy of Saint Teresa” (1652) by Gian Lorenzo Bernini flashed through my mind. It was that moment of complete awareness of the Divine to which I was drawn. These elements made me more curious about this man, who was so devoted to serving his God, that he was willing to go back to the land that had kidnapped and enslaved him, to bring Christianity and salvation to the end of the world. What does that depth of faith and level of service to others look like? The poem “Patrick’s Sheep” is my attempt at another type of translation of Patrick, as a creative expression. It is my interpretation of Patrick, the pastoral priest who wanted to save the Irish and who felt so deeply for them. CIM 3/31/2021 viii CHAPTER ONE – INTRODUCTION & HISTORICAL FOUNDATIONS The impetus for this dissertation project was multi-faceted. The idea of word play, word choice, and the subtleties of the English language was initially fascinating, with regards to two specific translations of Patrick’s writings (works by Philip Freeman1 and John Skinner2). The politicization of Patrick in the religious and cultural identity of Ireland soon became intertwined in the quest to understand those aforementioned language discrepancies. And lastly, the idea of Patrick as the face of Ireland, or at least the most well-known of the island’s saints, brought about the question – Why him? What was it about this particular Christian missionary that has captured the attention of people for over one thousand years? It is unclear as to the exact reason(s) for the fame and reputation of Patrick over the years. Patrick’s story has been mythologized and appropriated (and/or misappropriated) for political, religious, and theological purposes over the years to where fact and fiction or when fiction became fact one found hard to distinguish. One compelling sign of Patrick’s influence is the many and varied uses of the translations of his writings over the past 1500 years. This is especially interesting considering that there are only two relatively brief letters attributed to the saint. One essential reason for the focus on Patrick and the subsequent worldwide attention on him is because Patrick’s writings have been translated and interpreted, 1 Freeman, Philip. St. Patrick of Ireland. New York, New York: Simon & Schuster Paperback, 2004. 2 Saint Patrick. The Confession of Saint Patrick. Trans. John Skinner. New York, New York: Image Books/Doubleday, 1998. 1 2 in just the past two hundred years, more than a dozen times3 in a purposeful manner in order to advance various, and often contradictory, religious, and political agendas. Given the small body of Patrick’s writings, this makes for a particularly compelling subject for study—why so many translations? Patrick is not recognized as a deep theological thinker or a profound observer of society during his life. What has drawn so many scholars and others to translate this man’s writing? This project makes the further claim that even though Patrick’s persona may have been crafted by others, it is an intimate connection between the saint and God that readers over the centuries have found in those writings, and not on a purely theological level, that has proven both powerful and lasting. For these reasons, certain translations of the works attributed to Saint Patrick will be examined in this endeavor to demonstrate that the final products (the published translations themselves) are affected by many factors including translators’ scholarly opinions or personal biases (whether assumed or documented); historic, economic, or social events; and/or language evolution in which these subtleties often lead to differences among translators as to Patrick’s meaning, his appeal, and his enduring message (if any). While these translations have many similarities in subject matter and general word choices, it is the subtle differences that are of interest here. The word bias usually has a negative connotation; however, one person’s determination of bias might be just another person’s perspective. Every translator has a 3 In addition to the seven specific translations chosen to be presented in this study (the reasons for which are elaborated in Chapter Three), there were other notable scholars whose translations were not used. See the works of Binchy, Cahill, Conneely, DeBreffney, DePaor, Hanson, Hennessy, Hood, J.